Carpetball

General Procedure of Play

1. Agree with all players on a set of rules to follow, but keep the rules simple, flexible and fun.
2. Let both challengers line up 5 balls in the little rectangle formed at their end of the table by the walls, the marker line, and the pit. They may line up less than, but no more than, 5 balls. They may position their balls in any way they choose, provided that all the balls remain inside the little rectangle.
3. Let one player throw (slide, roll, etc) the cue ball (the white billiard ball) and attempt to knock his or her opponent's balls outside of the little rectangle by hitting them.
4. Let the other player throw the opposite direction with the same intent.
5. Let play continue in this fashion until one player manages to hit all their opponent's balls out of the little rectangle.
6. Let the player whose balls were just hit out have one more throw to hit his or her opponent's balls out of the little rectangle (regardless of who threw first at the beginning of the game).
7. If the said player fails to hit the remaining balls out of the little rectangle, they loose. Go to instruction number 11.
8. If the said player manages to hit the remaining balls out of his or her opponent's the little rectangle, each player lines up two balls on their side and there is a standoff, played the same way as above. The player who ends the round with the cue ball must to throw first in the standoff round.
9. If there is yet another tie, the players start over at instruction number 2.
10. If one player manages to hit all their opponent's balls out of the little rectangle, they are declared the winner of the round.
11. Let the winning player stay at his or her end of the table for the next round, and let the next person in line, the challenger, step up to play. The new challenger always gets the first throw in the new round.

If's, Just In Cases, and Specifics

1. Once a ball has been hit into the pit, it cannot be taken out and must remain there for the duration of the round. If a ball is hit over the marker line, it must be removed and placed in the pit. If a ball moves to another position within the little rectangle because it is hit by a billiard ball, it must remain where it stops.
2. If a ball, for whatever reason, rolls into the pit, it must remain there for the duration of the round. If a ball, for whatever reason, rolls in front of the marker line, must be removed and placed in the pit. If a ball, for whatever reason other than intentional moving, rolls to another position within the little rectangle, it remain where it stops.
3. A player may not intentionally move a ball within their little rectangle once a round has begun. If a player does this, they must place their ball back where it was originally. A player may, however, pick up a ball from the little rectangle and place it within his or her own pit. Once a player has removed a ball in this way, though, the ball must remain in the pit for the remainder of the round.
4. If for any reason a ball flies out of the table, aside from player or spectator interference, the player having thrown the cue ball must remove a ball of their choice from their side and place it in the pit. This is called a "One Ball Penalty."
5. If, for whatever reason, a player throws the cue ball and it fails to reach his or her opponent's end of the table, he or she is not allowed to re-throw.

Visit Matt Campbell's Carpetball Page